


Around You

by sebh_writing



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-06-09 10:46:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6902683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebh_writing/pseuds/sebh_writing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>There’s something about her.  Some confidence, some swagger… something I don’t have.  Me?  I’m just a pothead science geek from California.  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Delphine… Delphine is refined.  Poised.  Intentional.</i>
</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Cosima Niehaus is a high school exchange student from San Francisco attending a science high school in Paris, and Delphine Cormier is her host sister and classmate. Hilarity and sexiness ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrival and Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! So this is my first fic, I hope y'all enjoy it! I will hopefully post 2 chapters a month, though I can't make any solid promises. Enjoy!
> 
> (The title based off of the Ingrid Michaelson song "Around You", which can be found here for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G50P7xtyes)

I boarded the plane in New York City with confidence and excitement.  I exited the plane in Paris with anxiety like I’ve never felt before.

Walking through the Charles de Gaulle Airport feels like a walk into a new world.  There are a few coffee shops and taverns dotted along the side of the terminal, and everyone is speaking in quick and fluid French.  I catch snippets of conversation here and there—a bartender calling her  _ maman  _ to ask if she can watch her daughter until morning, an old man ordering a beer from her coworker.  Back in San Francisco, the world felt familiar and small, regardless of the immense size and ever changing nature of the landscape. 

What can I say?  That was home.

But for the next year, this will be my home.

I stop at a coffee shop and buy a bottle of water.  The flight from JFK had been long, and I was parched, even though I had slept most of the way.  Something about airplanes dries me out.  Always has.  I take out my iPhone and exchange the SIM card to the French one I preordered.  The phone glows and sputters to life, taking a long moment to pick up the signal.  Eventually, iMessages from home begin to come through.  I log on to WhatsApp and text my mom and dad and let them know I made it safely to Paris,  and take a picture of the welcome sign in the airport terminal and send it to them as proof.

It is 11am in Paris.  My flight landed maybe 30 minutes earlier than expected, so I had time to sit and collect my thoughts.  My doubts swelled inside of me.  

_ What if my French isn’t up to par?   _

_ What if I fail out of the program?   _

_ What if my host family doesn’t like me? _

The phone vibrates to life—it’s an SMS message, the first one on my new French number.

::New Message from Marie Cormier::

_ My host mom _ .  

I open the text.  It’s in broken English, like all of her texts thus far.  We have been chatting back and forth for, oh, three months?  I got accepted into the French Academy of Sciences’ high school exchange program in the late spring, and about a month after that I was assigned to the Cormier’s to stay with.  Apparently, the academy thought it would be wise to place me with a native in the program.  Her daughter attends the school, and is in my grade, so the administrators thought that me staying them was a good match.

“Hi Cosima ,, we are being to airport at noon.  Will see you soon, call when you arrive.  Very excited to have you!”

I check the time: 11:16am, so 44 minutes until she picks me up.  I dial her number and wait on the line.  Even the dial tone is different here, and it makes me chuckle.

“Allo?”

“Bonjour, Marie!  It’s Cosima.”

“Cosima! Bonsoir! Welcome to Paris!  You are doing okay, non?”

I look around—everything is foreign, but the light coming through the windows of the airport give a reassuring glow, and hearing a friendly voice calms my mounting anxiety just a bit.

“Yes, I am doing okay.  I just landed; I know it’s early.  I still have to get my suitcases and go through customs, though.  I should be ready to go in 30 minutes.” 

“Okay, we will be going to get you soon, then!  I will be bringing Delphine with me.  We are getting brunch now, and I do not think I will have enough time to drop her at our house before I come and get you.”

Her daughter, right?  That’s who Delphine is, my host sister.   Delphine.  That’s a pretty name.

“That sounds fine.  Au revoir, Marie.”

I end the call and lock the phone, grab my backpack and head for the baggage claim.  I walk down to what seems to be an almost empty baggage carousel.  But honestly, I’m always late, so that doesn’t surprise me.  My two bags are waiting for me, and I grab them and head towards customs, sweating a bit. 

_ Here’s hoping they don’t find my pot… _

In fact, they don’t.  My bags are scanned and I am not selected for a random search, so I am free to go.  I check my phone.  11:44am. 

::Incoming Call from Marie Cormier::

She tells me that she is waiting along the curb in a little green Hyundai, and I find her.  She comes running out of the car, sweeping me up in a surprisingly tight hug.  I hug her back.

“Bienvenue à la maison, Cosima!”  I smile.

“Thank you, Marie.  We should get going, right?  I think I have a lot of settling in to do before school starts on Monday.”

“Right, right.”

I load the suitcases into the trunk, and slide into the back seat.  The car smells like vanilla, almost like cupcakes.  There is someone in the front passenger seat, and I am assuming it’s Marie’s daughter Delphine.  Her yellow curls spill out from the headrest, just touching the top of the seat.

“Delphine, allons, introduce yourself!” Marie exclaims after a minute or two of silence.

She turns around.

She has her curls pinned back to the right of her face with a green bow, and her lips are just slightly tinted pink.  Her brown eyes catch the high noon sun with joyous reflection as she turns around, and she smiles.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”  I take a moment to respond.  Something about her… there is almost a swing to her voice. 

“Delphine.  Very nice to meet you…”

“Cosima.  Looks like we’re bunking together.”

“Enchantée.”

“Enchantée.”

We drive for maybe 20 minutes to the Cormier house.  It’s pretty small, but quaint.  It almost looks like a cottage out of a fantasy novel, but here it is in front of me—real.  I grab my bags out of the trunk and carry them into the foyer.  Marie insists that she bring my baggage up the stairs to my room, and I oblige.  Thomas, Marie’s husband, is sitting at the island, sipping a cappuccino and reading a newspaper.  He says hello, and I wave back, suddenly shy. 

I quickly realize how parched I am still, and I go to the cabinet for a glass.  Unfortunately, this house is built for giants, and a giant I am not.  I haven’t seen Thomas standing upright in person, but Marie and Delphine are both tall, Delphine being maybe 5’6 or 5’7, Marie reaching nearly 6 feet.  I’m lucky if I’m 5’2 on a good day.

I reach and reach with no avail, and just as I am about to climb on the counter and maneuver my way to a glass monkey-style, I feel someone brush against my skin, press, and reach over me.  I turn my head, and Delphine is against me, picking a mug off of the top shelf. 

“You know you could have told me to move, right?”

She looks me up and down, smiled, and gives me the mug.

“You are too stubborn.  You still would have climbed up and done it yourself.”

I roll my eyes playfully.

“Thanks.”

I go and fill the mug with water, walk a few paces, and plop down on the living room floor cross-legged.  Delphine follows me, eyes watching me the whole way, and sits opposite me in an armchair.

“So… you’re in the program, too?” I ask.

Delphine looks down. “Yeah.  It’s going to be my second year.  I’m really enjoying it.   I was in this immunology class last term, and it’s just fascinating.  I’m thinking I’m going to do my senior thesis on host-parasite relationships.  But that’s a few years from now.”  She looks back up at me. “What brings you to the Academy?”

“Well… I guess you wouldn’t say I’m a typical American high school student.  I’m really into science and jazz.  Evo-devo, specifically.  I spent all of my free time the past few years watching videos on it.”

Delphine paused, and cocked her head.  “Evolutionary development?”

“Yeah, yeah, shit… sorry, I completely forgot I wasn’t talking to someone who knows the jargon.  I’m part of this club at my home school, that’s where I got the name.  That’s actually how I found out about the program.  And I thought this would be good for me, considering I am studying French in school.  But I’m not great at it, or anything.”

“You found out about the program through a club?”

“Yeah, I did.  Honestly, I’m terrified.  I have no idea what to expect.  I feel like I am going to fail at all of this… What with the classes being taught primarily in French, the fact that the whole year is science based and it’s not just a few classes… it’s very intimidating.”

“You seem smart.  I assure you, you will do fine.” Delphine said in a low, reassuring voice.  I feel the anxiety slowly melt away.

There’s something about her.  Some confidence, some swagger… something I don’t have.  Me?  I’m just a pothead science geek from California.  

Delphine… Delphine is refined.  Poised.  Intentional. 

I am none of those things.

Delphine and I chatted a few minutes more, until her mother called for us from up the stairs.  We followed the voice into Delphine’s room, and I see my suitcases in a corner, and a bed freshly made beside it.

“Am I staying in Delphine’s room?”  I ask Marie.

“Oui, there is no other room besides hers.  Is this okay?”

I look over at Delphine, now lounging stomach-down on the other bed, collarbone exposed.  Her ribbed tank top is gapped just slightly to let her black bra peek through.  Her curls are tied back into a braided bun, and a few rogue strands of hair fall curled in front of her face.  Something about her catches me, and I gulp.  

“Yeah.  That’s fine.”

I unpack my things over the course of the day, and after a few hours of folding clothes, hanging pictures, and organizing books, I was done.  My half of the room is now covered in pictures of Darwin’s finches, Da Vinci’s drawings (prints, of course), and periodic tables.  Delphine’s side of the room is primarily covered in magazine covers, mostly pretty men with their shirts off.  Typical teenage girl stuff, I guess.  But even so, Delphine seems anything but typical.  Her quiet confidence and calm demeanor radiates a control and coolness that I just don’t have.  

Dinner came and went.  Marie, Thomas, and Delphine and I toasted to new beginnings with white wine.   I felt myself get slightly buzzed, and whatever remaining anxiety or worry I had about the Cormier’s liking me melted off of my skin.

And now it is nearly 10pm (or 22:00 as they say here)—time for bed.  Delphine and I say goodnight to her parents, and we climb the stairs to our room.  I take out a graphic tee with Einstein smoking a pipe on it and some plaid boxer shorts, and just as I am about to change, I realize I was sharing the room with Delphine, and I should probably figure out boundaries.

“Hey, Delphine?”

“Oui, Cosima?”  She turns around.  She was already getting changed.  She is just in her black bra and a pair of lace red underwear, which made me blush.

“Oh, I just wanted to ask about the changing situation.  Are you cool if I change in here, or do you want me to go to the bathroom? Or—”

Delphine laughs.  “What do you think, that I have never seen a woman before? You know, I am a woman, and I have seen my reflection many times!”

“I mean, I just… I want to respect your privacy, obvs, and I just didn’t know the situation—”

Delphine rolls her eyes.  “We are going to be sharing this room for a year.  We are bound to see each other naked at some point, non?  Might as well happen sooner than later.”

I gulp. “Yeah, yeah… I suppose you’re right.”

She continues changing, slipping the black bra off of her shoulders and eventually unclasping it, then putting on the white tank top she had been wearing earlier.  She kept her back to me, and I found myself staring at her from across the room.  She faces me, and I realized that I had spent so much time looking at her that I haven’t even changed yet.  I feel my cheeks flush red—half from embarrassment of looking at her so obviously, and half because of something I noticed when Delphine turned around.

“Holy watershed…”

Delphine gave me an inquisitive look.  “Is everything okay, Cosima?”

“Yeah, yeah… It’s just… Are those nipple piercings?”  I can see them through the white tank top, and I just… I couldn’t not ask.  Something compelled me.

Delphine chuckles.  “Oui, you noticed.”

My entire face must be red now.

“I got them last year,” she continues.  “I have wanted them for years.  My friend is a professional piercer at a tattoo shop in town, and so even though I’m not old enough to get them done in the shop, he did them for me at his place.  It took some asking, though.”  She giggled again.  “He is a stubborn guy.  But I convinced him.”  And she winked.

I feel my whole body get red.

You see, I had never had time for boys, I thought.  I have been president of so many clubs and classes, and I take so many AP’s that I thought that maybe, just maybe, I didn’t feel attraction to boys because I didn’t have the capacity to.  I mean, I didn’t feel attraction to girls, either, so at this point, there was no substantial evidence either way.  Right?

At least, not until now.  This girl, Delphine, with her blonde curls, calm demeanor, and blatant confidence… she makes me feel something I haven’t felt before.  

And I am going to be spending an entire year sleeping in her bedroom.


	2. Dreams and a Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! I am so excited about the response from the first chapter! I'm pretty sure I'll be able to keep updating twice a month, so keep an eye out. Thank you guys for the support, and I'll catch y'all on the flip side ^.^
> 
> As always, thanks to my beta! I can't do this without you :)

Chapter 2

_She pins me up against a wall.  Her hair is tied back, but it is coming undone at the seams, wispy curls falling freely in her face.  She runs her hand up my side, across my chest, and up to my lips.  She takes her thumb and presses it against my bottom lip, and pulls down, just slightly.  And then she kisses me.  I sigh, and kiss her back eagerly. Her hands slip behind me and grab the small of my back, pushing me into her._

_“Delphine…” I moan._

_She tugs at the hem of my shirt, and then she starts to pull it over my head--_

And my alarm goes off.

This is the third time this week I have had this dream.

I’ve never had sexy dreams before I met her.  I mean, there’s never really been someone I’ve known or seen that I’ve found sexy before Delphine.  All of this would be fine, and I would be okay with having these dreams and figuring myself out… that is, I would be fine with it if the girl I was fantasizing about wasn’t sleeping no more than 5 or 6 feet away from me.  

But she is.

I sit up, turn off my alarm, and put my glasses on.  Delphine rolls over, still asleep.  She is sleeping in a tank top again and her left breast is falling out of the side, just slightly.  I bite my lip and turn away.  I pull my shirt over my head and grab my button up that I had picked for the day.  I hear Delphine rustle again behind me, and I turn around to face her.

“Bonjour…” Delphine says sleepily.

“Hey, sleep well?”  I ask.  I start put on my bra and start to button my shirt, and she rises from the blanket.

“Oui.  Very well.  The best in a while, actually.  I usually have nightmares.  But none this time.”

“Oh?” I ask, slipping into my jeans. “What about?”

“Well, I have these dreams about… worms, I think they are?  Maggots?  Anyway, I have nightmares that they are burrowing into my face.  I’ve gotten used to them, but they still are bothersome.”

“Dude, that’s intense.” I reply.  “Any reason you think you have them?”

Delphine laughs.  “Well, I was watching lots of films on host-parasite relationships in class last term and... I guess something got to my subconscious.”  She chuckles.  “But like I said, I didn’t have that dream tonight.  So I slept well.”

“I’m really glad to hear that.” I reply.  I grab my dreads and pull them into a swirl behind me, and tie them off.  I look in the mirror, and deem that I am acceptable to be seen.  Delphine is still in bed.

“Hey, I’m gonna make food.  Pancakes good?”

“Oui, thank you.  I’ll be down in a minute.” Delphine yawns and stretches, and I leave the room.  I quickly run down the stairs and slide into the kitchen.  The pantry has pancake mix, and I thank Darwin that I don’t have to make them from scratch.  I heat the griddle and make the mix, and I hear Delphine come down the stairs.  She plops down at the island and lays her head in her hands.

“Hey, are you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, I’m just not quite awake yet,” she responds.  I giggle.

“How is it that I am more awake than you this morning?  That’s almost never the case.”  In the three weeks I have been living with Delphine, I have been the last in the house out of bed most mornings.  Not since I started having these dreams, though.  That’s enough to get me out of bed.  But I’m not going to mention those to her.

“I don’t know.” Delphine yawns. “I just haven’t had good sleep in so long.  I’m not used to it.  I want more of it.”  She chuckles under her breath.

“Well, it is Friday, so you can sleep as late as you want to tomorrow, you know.”

“Yeah.”  She pauses.  “Hey, so you know Jacque Durand, right?”

I take a moment to think.  “Yeah, I think we have chemistry together.  Why?”

“Well he’s having a party tonight.  His mom is on a business trip to Prague, and he has the house to himself.  He said I should bring someone when he invited me.  Would you like to come?”

I turn back to the griddle and flip the bubbling pancakes.  I imagine Delphine in a tight party dress and gulp.

“Uh, yeah.  Like, what kind of party is it?”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Like… is it like us hanging around and watching TV and playing video games?  Or is it like, alcohol and grinding?”  I respond.

Delphine laughs.  “Probably the second one.  Jacque isn’t exactly… what’s the word in English, ‘chill’?  Yes.  As you Americans say, he is not chill.  So my guess is alcohol and grinding.”

“I don’t really drink too much…”

“That’s okay.  How about this: we go to the party, and when you’re ready to go, we can go.  Okay?”  Delphine is looking at me even though I am turned around, I can feel it.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Bon.”  I plate the pancakes and slide a stack to Delphine, and we eat for a moment in silence.

“Cosima?”

“Yeah?”

“You look really nice today.  Très belle.”

And there it is, the blushing.  This happens a lot.

“Thank you.”  Delphine faces me, and runs her fingers over the collar of my shirt, and I can feel the heat of her hands radiating onto my face.

“No, really.  This isn’t your usual style.  You look… professional.  Poised.”  I swallow hard.

“Yeah, thank you.  I have a presentation on clone cells today in my biology class today, and I want to look nice for it, y’know? Make a good impression.”  I am stuttering through this, mind you. Delphine touching me does not make it easy for me to talk.

“It does make a good impression.  You should dress like this more often.”  I make a mental note to wear more button ups.

The day comes and goes.  Delphine meets me at the front of the building after school, and we start the walk home together.

“Hey, what time does the party start tonight?”  I ask.  Delphine pauses.

“20:00, I think, maybe 21:00.  I’ll check the text Jacque sent me.”

“Okay, rad.  That gives me time to study for that exam in chemistry on Monday, then to change, and then time to eat something.”

Delphine laughs.  “Don’t you think about anything but school and food?”

_You.  I think about you a lot._

“Not really, I guess. What can I say, I’m a pretty focused person.”

“Do you not think about boys?”

_shitshitshitshit_

“I mean, I never really had time for boys…” I trail off.  I mean, I’m not lying.  I never have much time in my life.   Especially not for boys.

But for Delphine?

“I just really want to get into a good university and junk.  I dunno.  Boys are distracting.”

Delphine giggles.  “You can say that again!”

We walk in silence for a little while.  The leaves on the trees around us are starting to turn golden and red, and they fall in our wake.

“Have you ever kissed a boy?” Delphine asks.

“I mean, yeah.  Once.  For a dare back in like, middle school.  Totally embarrassing.  I’d hardly count it.”   I pause.  “What about you?”

Delphine blushes.  “Well, there is… there was one guy.  His name is Aldous.  He’s older.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.  You remember… you remember how I told you I had a friend pierce my nipples?  That was him.”

I stop.

“Oh.”

“He’s into like, body mods and piercings.  He once told me his ideal woman had silver hair and one white eye.  His best friend at the shop even had a tail that Aldous implanted for him.  I thought he was mysterious, y’know?  I thought that he was interesting.  More interesting than the boys in our school anyway.”

I muster up a tiny bit of courage.  “Was?”

“…we’re not together anymore.  Haven’t been for a few months.  It was toxic.  The age difference alone was enough… but I was young and naïve.  I thought that dating a man 10 years older than me was cool.  But it’s not.  Not now, anyway.  And he used me as a plaything.  Paraded me around… it all just made me really uncomfortable.  And I realized it was bad and I left.”

Delphine swallows hard.

“But that’s in the past! And what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?”

“Yeah, for sure.”

We walk in the house.  Marie is brewing tea in the kitchen, and Thomas has not yet returned from work, so it seems.

“Bonjour!”  Delphine and I say in unison.  She rounds the corner to the stairs and started climbing, and I followed.  She’s wearing tight black pants, and her shape makes me blush.  I’m telling you, this blushing thing is getting out of control.

We get to our room, and I close the door.  I am still reeling over what she told me.  A man 10 years her senior?  At 15?  She had only last month turned 16…  It makes me worry.  It makes me curious.

“Where did you meet Aldous?”  I blurt out.  Delphine is brushing her hair when I ask this.  She stops and turns from the vanity to look at me.

“At a club in the city.  It’s called Club Neolution.  Me and a couple of friends…we used to go there a lot.  Try to get drinks.  It was rebellious, I know.  I was a bit of a rebel.”

“How old were you when you met him?”

“14, almost 15.  He bought me a drink and we talked at the club.  I told him I was considering becoming a scientist, and he talked about body modifications and how it was like ‘defying evolution’ or ‘self-guided evolution’ or whatever.  I mean, at that point, it sounded like we were a good fit.”

“Sounded like?”

“I mean, yeah.  Something clicked.  There was chemistry, for sure.  I’m pretty sure I was just trying to rationalize dating someone 10 years older than me.  It worked for a while, anyway.”

“When did you break up with him?” I murmur.

“When I found out he was cheating on me.  About three months ago.  It was with another young girl, she was 14.  And I just realized that it made me sick to think about that with someone else, and considering the circumstances, I had enough.”

“Oh god,” I mutter.  “I’m really sorry to hear about that.”

“Honestly?  Dealing with all of it made me want to swear off of men forever!”  Delphine laughs, and I chuckle nervously.

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”

“…do you mean that, or..?”

“I mean,” she takes a moment to think, “I never considered bisexuality… at least for myself.  But sexuality is a spectrum, and social biases... they codify attraction, you know?  It’s contrary to the biological facts.”

“…Have you ever been attracted to a woman?” I ask sheepishly.

Delphine paused for a moment, licking her lips in concentration.  “I mean, yes.  There was one girl that I had an affinity for before I met Aldous, actually.  Danielle Fournier.  But to be entirely honest, I hadn’t even thought about it as a matter of sexuality until now.  Maybe I am bisexual after all!” She chuckles.  “Who would have thought?”

_Certainly not me._

Delphine looks at me, contemplating her next move, then speaks. “Have you?”

I swallow hard. “Have I what?”

“Been attracted to a woman?”

The world stops.  I feel my heart beating, the speed rapidly increasing.  I feel my palms start to sweat; my lips fold into each other.  The fight or flight instinct was kicking in.  I have to say something.  I have to say something, right?

“I… I don’t know.  To be honest with you, I haven’t really been attracted to anyone, really.”

_Liar!_

Delphine’s face falls.  Falls?  “Oh.  Do you think you…might be asexual? Or something?”

“I don’t know.”

_LIAR!_

“Either way, my sexuality isn’t the most interesting thing about me.”

Delphine smiles.  “This is true. You are very interesting no matter your sexuality, of course.”

I turn my head to her. “Oh?”

“Yeah.  You’re quirky…cheeky, if you will.  You obviously care about everyone you come in contact with, and you have this incredible optimism about the world that I just don’t always have.  You… you have a gravity, you know? Something about you… it pulls me in.”

_Is she flirting with me?_

“Thank you.  But I think you don’t give yourself enough credit.  About the optimism bit, anyway.  You seem to be very optimistic and positive regarding the situation with Aldous.”

Delphine sighs.  “Yeah, I suppose.  I wasn’t for a long time, though.”

“But that’s valid, you know?  It’s okay to not be okay after a rough situation.”

“Yeah.”  Delphine looks at the clock: it’s nearing 19:00.  We have been talking for 3 hours and we didn’t even realize it.

“We should get dressed.”

“Agreed,” I respond.

I pull a short maroon dress and woven stockings from the dresser drawer.  I unbutton my shirt and slide my jeans to the floor.  I realize I am in a bad bra for this dress, so I remove it as well.  I turn around to grab a new one, and that’s when I see it.

_Delphine is watching me._

I quickly avert my eyes and pretend that I didn’t see her staring. I put on the new bra and pull the dress over my head and roll the stockings up my legs.  I turn around again after all of this, and this time Delphine is wearing a black and white dress with mesh along the chest.

Of course, she looks stunning.  She could wear a plastic bag and look stunning.  

“Woah…” I mutter.  I can’t help it.  It’s getting harder to control myself around her.  It just slips out.  “Dude, you look hot.”

Delphine giggles.  “Why thank you.  You look quite hot yourself, you know!”

Now I’m giggling.

“Thanks.  Hey, flats or heels?”

“Well, we are walking, and there will be dancing, so let’s do flats.”

“Okay, solid.”

Delphine grabs her purse and starts walking out of the room, and I grab my purse in turn and follow.  We both hurry down the stairs.  Delphine kisses Marie on both cheeks and hugs Thomas (who must have come home at some point in the last three hours), and we are on our way.


	3. Fairy Lights and Matches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my lovely beta, as per usual! :)

This part of Paris is so quiet at night.  The air is so crisp and the breeze is so calming, it’s almost like walking in a fairy tale.  I would believe it if someone were to tell me I was, anyway.  Here I am, walking to a party in France, thousands of miles from where I grew up, with the most beautiful woman I have ever met.  I’m just slightly behind her, and her curls bounce so elegantly with every step she takes.  It is like I am watching a beautiful art film every time I look at her.  

She is a masterpiece.

The walk takes nearly an hour, and we chat casually.  Delphine occasionally checks her phone, reminding me to check mine.  My mom has sent me a few texts, and I respond to them while we are waiting at a crosswalk.  I think of home.  I would never do something like this at home.  Go to a party?  With all of those people… strangers even?  Not likely.  I tend to be one for intimate parties.  I like sitting with friends and watching cartoons; smoking a bowl and eating cheetos.  Maybe dancing to hipster shit music.  I’m not about bumping and grinding with strangers.

But with Delphine?  I think I’d be willing to put up with a few strangers to have an excuse to bump and grind with Delphine.

The near-full moon glows down on the city, and we approach the address Jacque sent Delphine.  This is definitely where the party is.  French EDM music is bumping loud enough that we can hear it from a few blocks away.  Teenagers are streaming in and out of the door.  A few boys are sitting on the front stoop smoking unfiltered cigarettes. 

The house itself is tall and thin.  It is wrapped around the edges with white fairy lights, there are balconies on the top floor, and there is a bright red door square in the middle.  We approach the music, and I feel myself start to get anxious.  The loud noises are already giving me a headache, and the bass is giving me heart palpitations.  Apparently, Delphine notices this and wraps her arm around me, her hand draped over my right shoulder, long fingertips grazing the sleeve of my dress.  Her touch surprises me, though it is far from unwelcome.  I snuggle into her embrace.  The crisp autumn air is my excuse--I tell her I’m cold, and she either believes it or accepts the excuse at a minimum.

Walking through the front door, we are greeted by a few of our classmates.  I see Jacque through the crowd, and he has obviously spotted Delphine.  He elbows his way through the crowd and into the foyer, and embraces Delphine and kisses her on both cheeks.

“ _ Hey, Delphine!  So glad you could make it!  Is this your plus one?” _

_ “Oui, this is Cosima.  She is from America.” _

“Holy shit, an American!”  Jacque speaks to me in English now.  “Where in America are you from?”

“San Francisco, California.  It’s totally different than here.”

“San Francisco, is it?  Very nice!  Are the rumors true?” he asks.

“And what rumors would that be?” I smirk.

“That people from San Francisco are potheads?” He laughs, and I roll my eyes.

“Honestly, guilty as charged.”

Jacque stares me straight in the eyes and pulls out a long, thick joint out of his back pocket without missing a beat.  My eyes widen.  I may have brought pot here, but I sure as hell haven’t smoked it out of fear of getting caught.  The loud music and close proximity of so many people have given me incredible anxiety, and this was my ticket to relaxation.  I haven’t smoked in a month, and I am itching bad now that I see an opportunity.

“You want it?”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Yes, I want it!”

“It’s yours. Consider it a gift.”  He hands me the joint and turns to Delphine.   _ “Have you ever smoked pot?” _

_ “No, actually. Just cigarettes.” _

“You’ve never smoked pot?!” I exclaim.  She may have been speaking in French, but any talk about pot was speaking my language.

“No, never.  Drinking and smoking cigarettes was always enough to me, I guess.”

I stare her in the eyes.  “I am going to get you  _ so _ baked.”

I put the joint behind my ear, and Delphine grabs my hand and leads me into the living room.  The music is coming from here, that’s for sure.  The china cabinet is shaking with every beat in the music, and girls in crop tops are bent at the waist with taller boys behind them, grinding hard to the beat.  Teenage hormones, man.

I start swaying to the beat, and I see Delphine start to move too.  She is effortless.  Her long arms are flowing so smoothly, and her eyes are closed.  I close my eyes too, and suddenly I feel hands on my waist.  I turn around to find a complete stranger touching me.  I push his hands off of my waist, give him a death glare, and move closer to Delphine.  The guy seems angry that I didn’t accept his advances and looks at me sternly.  I look to Delphine who is staring him down.

_ “Hey, what the fuck is your problem, bitch?”  _ the guy swears at me.

_ “Back off of my girl!”  _ Delphine responds, catching me way off guard. 

The guy looks wide-eyed at us.   _ “Your girl?” _

_ “Yeah, asshole, my girl.  Don’t go touching her again.” _

It takes me a little while to translate what was said, but once I get it, my stomach flip-flops.  What the hell did she just say?

Delphine looks at me with concern.  “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine… I just don’t like strangers touching me.  Did you just call me your girl?”

“Yeah, just to get this asshole off of you, though.  These guys tend to be pretty touchy-feely and need a reason to back off.”

Suddenly, a bravery I haven’t quite had before takes over.  “We should probably make the whole ‘your girl’ thing believable then...right?” I mutter.

Delphine grabs my waist, and pulls me in against her. “I think that’s a marvelous idea.”

French EDM music starts to mix with American rap, then to British hip-hop.  An hour or so passes with Delphine and me pressed closely together, our faces just inches from one another.  My heart is beating so hard and fast that I am afraid that Delphine can feel it from where she is.  But she doesn’t seem to notice.  She is dancing in that carefree kind of way that children often do, flowing rhythmically to the beat, smiling the whole time.  It’s a kind of pure joy that I don’t see often, but rests so easily in her. 

Delphine turns to me.  “Having fun, Cosima?”

I smirk.  “Yeah, but I think I have something more fun in mind.”  I grab her hand, and lead her through the crowd, up the stairs, through a bedroom, and out to a balcony.  I pull the joint out from behind my ear.  “Got a light?”

Delphine lights the joint with a match that she retrieves from her purse, and I take the first puff off of it.  The world slows down and the music seems softer.  The lights of the city below us seem to twinkle. 

“Okay. Your turn.”

I hand the joint to Delphine, and she takes a long drag off of it.  She points her head up to the sky, and releases a thick cloud of smoke from her mouth.  Her silhouette against the fairy lights surrounding the house looks so stunning.  I memorize what it’s like to be here, right now, with her.

“How do you feel?”

Delphine laughs.  “Like I need another drag of this joint!”

I chuckle.  “Go ahead, just save some for me, okay?” Delphine nods in response. 

Together we finish the joint, and we return to the party with a new energy.  We go back to dancing dangerously close to each other, and my heart starts racing again.  Delphine puts her hands on my hips and brings us in even tighter as a slower song comes on.  High as I am, I know this is probably not the place or time for this, and I pull away.

“Hey, it’s past midnight.  We should probably get home.  It’s a long walk and it’s getting cold outside.” I suggest.

“Yeah, okay.  You’re right.”

I grab Delphine, who is obviously stoned out of her mind, by the hand and lead her through the crowd.  Jacque is in the kitchen, and we stop to thank him for having us.

“Hey, call me if you ever need anything, Cos.”  Jacque takes my phone and puts his number in my contacts.  We kiss on both cheeks, and Delphine and I are on our way home.

Delphine is the type of high person that you might see in movies.  She stumbles all over herself, she laughs constantly, and she is way more touchy feely baked than she is sober.  I have no complaints about any of this.  However, the crisp September air is making me shiver, and with Delphine walking the way she is, it will take us far longer than an hour to get home.  So we decide to hail a taxi.

The cab pulls to the side.  Delphine slides all the way in first, and I follow.  The car starts up again, and we begin the drive.

“Is this how it always feels to be high?” asks Delphine.

I laugh.  “I mean, sometimes?  It’s kinda different every time for me, anyway.  Either way, I tend to feel like I’m floating.”

“Yeah. That’s about where I am now,” she giggles.

The taxi stops in front of Delphine’s house, and Delphine pays the fare.  I climb out of the cab first.  Delphine is having trouble getting up both because her dress is tight and she is high out of her mind, so I grab both of her hands and help her up out of the car.  We walk up to the front stoop and unlock the door.  Delphine immediately goes to the kitchen and gets chips, and I ascend the stairs to our shared room.

The moment I enter the room, I realize how cold it is.  Apparently, we left a window open.  I shiver.  I look to the corner to find a space heater, but when I plug it in and turn it on, it only blows cold air.  Something’s up with the heating coils, or something.

Delphine bursts into the room with chips and cola. 

“Oh my fucking god, I have never been this hungry in my entire life.” she says. 

I laugh.  “My friend, you have the munchies.”

She snorts, then shivers.  “Why the hell is it so cold in here?”

I look to the still-open window, down to the space heater with the broken coil, and back at Delphine.  She is obviously thinking about something.

“I can’t sleep when it’s cold, you know.”

“Right, right. Neither can I.  I’m used to it being at least temperate in California.” I respond.

Delphine hands me a bottle of cola, and I take a swig.  Delphine takes a handful of chips and starts eating them one by one, but starts talking with her mouth full.

“Well, we should probably sleep together tonight, then.”

It takes literally everything in my power not to spit all of my cola out on to the floor in shock.

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, dumbass, for warmth. It’s too cold to sleep by myself tonight.  What do you say?”

Here I am, high as fuck, needing to weigh my options.  On the one hand,  _ I would get to spend the night with Delphine. In her bed.  Cuddled up to her.  All night.  _  On the other hand, I don’t know if I would be able to deal with that right now, and I am sure there is some sort of consequence from this that will bite me in the ass later.  In my current state, however, I decide to take my chances.

“Yeah. That sounds like a good idea.  I’m game.”

“Okay, good.” 

Delphine finishes off her handful of chips and rolls up the bag.  She puts it down on the vanity, turns around, and pulls her dress over her head, exposing her matching bra and panties with no regard for the fact that I am definitely looking at her.  I try and fail at not staring.  Delphine pushes both bra straps off of her shoulders, and unclasps the bra, still seemingly unaware that I am totally watching her.

Her breasts are small but quite perky.  Both nipples, as promised, have silver beads on either side of them.  Delphine is already pretty pale, but her breasts are even paler, obviously covered by a bikini over the last summer.  I keep telling myself to look away before she catches me, but I cannot avert my eyes. She is so beautiful, so sexy, so enchanting that I can’t turn around. 

Delphine, still unaware that I’m looking at her (all awareness of her surroundings went away after smoking that joint), grabs a sweatshirt out of the closet and a pair of sweatpants to match.  I finally break my gaze and change as well, opting for a similar sweatshirt and sweatpants ensemble.  I can hear Delphine yawning behind me, and I turn around to find her already under the comforter.  She pats the bed beside her.  I take off my glasses and put them on the vanity, then approach the bed.  I slide into the covers in front of Delphine, and she wraps her body slowly around the back of mine, holding me close with her arm across my belly.  Within a few minutes, she is asleep.  Curled up against her, her arms over my body, soft breathing in my ear... I let go of the night and fall into dreams.


	4. Coffee and a Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! The feedback on this work has been nothing short of amazing, thank you again! I absolutely love writing it, and I am glad that you all are enjoying reading it! 
> 
> For those of you in the USA this weekend, happy July 4th! Please stay safe and have an amazing time :)
> 
> And as always, thank you to my amazing beta!

_I turn to Delphine, and we kiss.  It’s the kind of long, full kiss that you see in movies.  Tongues darting back and forth, I grab Delphine by the waist and pull her in.  Our kiss breaks, and I start sucking on her neck, undoing the buttons on her shirt as I taste her skin. Soon the blouse is free, and I push it off of her shoulders._

_There is an urgency to this.  I can feel how wet I am, and Delphine pulling my shirt and sports bra off in one swift movement is not helping.  She palms my breasts, tugging at the nipple slightly, then bowing her head to my breast and sucking.  I throw my head back, unable to contain myself._

_“Oh, fuck, Delphine…”_

_She looks at me, puts her hands on my shoulders, and pushes me onto her bed.  She laces her thumbs into my jeans, eventually undoing the button and zipper and pulling them off.  Then come my panties, also discarded to the floor.  I am throbbing at this point, and I can feel her long, thin fingers on my thigh, tracing nonsense shapes gently on it, teasing me softly._

_“Please, Delphine… I need you inside of me…”_

_And she consents, pushing a finger inside of me, with a second one following quickly.  She strokes hard against my g-spot, and I moan unabashedly.  I can feel myself sweat.  My hips are matching the pace of Delphine’s hand, but I soon lose my rhythm as I creep closer to orgasm._

_“Fuck, Delphine, oh my God I’m gonna come…”_

_She bows her head to my center, two fingers still inside of me, and begins to suck on my clit._

_“Oh my god oh my god oh my god…”_

_I throw my head back._

“Unhhhhhoooooh my godddddd!”

My eyes fly open.  Delphine’s hand is splayed out on my stomach, her body spooning me.  She begins to shift behind me, like she is waking up.

_Did I just moan out loud?_

Delphine groans.   _Oh my god, she’s awake._

“Cosima, are you okay?”

I roll over to face her.  The clock on that side of the room flashes 06:34, only a few hours after we fell asleep.

“Yeah yeah I’m fine Delphine, go back to sleep…”

“I swear I heard you screaming…” she mumbles, obviously still half dreaming.

I can feel myself blushing.  “Oh, no no, not screaming, I’m fine…”

“Then what was that?”  Her voice is more put together now, less vocal fry.  She is obviously waking up enough to process the situation.

“Uh…” I can’t think of a response.  There isn’t a good way to say ‘Oh it was nothing, I was just dreaming that you were fucking me and I ended up moaning out loud.  My bad!’ without looking like a complete creep, right?

“Cosima, were you moaning?  Is that what I was hearing?”

_Fuck_.

“No, no, at least I don’t think so… Maybe it was someone outside?”

“No, Cosima, I swear it came from you.  Are you sure you’re okay?”

I don’t respond.  I realize in this moment that I am actually throbbing beneath the sheets.  Just fucking perfect.

Delphine yawns.  I look in her eyes, which are starting to close again.

“I promise, I’m fine.  You were probably just dreaming, or someone yelled outside, or something.  But you need to sleep.”

She yawns again. “I need...to...sleep…” she mutters.  Within seconds, she is dreaming again.  I take this as an opportunity to quietly remove myself from the blanket and head to the bathroom so I can cure myself of this throbbing.

 

* * *

 

 

The weeks after the party go by. Midterm exams come and go. Jacque, surprisingly enough, becomes a fast friend.  Many afternoons after school are spent with him, often in a park or on the balcony of his home, smoking a joint and running flashcards.  Sometimes Delphine joins us, but more often than not, she goes home or out with her own friends.

On this particular evening, however, Delphine has joined us. The three of us are sitting together at a coffee house near the Academy.  Jacque and I are laughing over a ridiculous comment made by a mutually disliked person in our chemistry class, and Delphine is sitting to my right, quietly sipping her cappuccino and staring off into the distance.

I turn to Delphine.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Her staring contest with the painting across from her breaks, and she turns to me.

“Nothing.  Just… Just thinking.”

“About?”

“I couldn’t say, honestly. A lot of things.” She mutters.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

Before she can answer, our quiet table is interrupted by the ringing of Jacque’s cell phone.

“Guys, this is my mom.  I’m gonna go take this,” he informs us, pushing in his seat and walking outside.

I turn to Delphine.

“You didn’t get a chance to answer.  Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She pauses.  “You and Jacque have become fast friends.”

I laugh.  “Oh, definitely.  He’s into biology and stuff just as much as I am.  Also he’s hilarious and he hooked me up with his pot guy, so it is a beneficial friendship to me to say the least.”

Delphine bites her lip. “Why don’t you invite me around more often?”

I turn to her, and look her in the eye. “Delphine, you’re not okay… Did I do something to upset you?”

She turns from me.  “I don’t know… I just feel left out.  Jacque was my friend first, you know?  And you’re only here for a year total and I just want to spend more time with you, too!”

I look down. “Are you jealous of Jacque and me, Delphine?”

“No, no.  I just want to hang out with the both of you more often, you know?  But I get it, you obviously like...like him.”

_What?_

I scoff, surprised.  “Delphine, I don’t like Jacque that way.  I swear.  But even if I did, what business is it of yours? I’m allowed to like who I want to like!” I exclaim, blushing wildly.

But before Delphine can respond, Jacque returns.  He nods at the both of us and sips his coffee.

“Sorry about that.  She just needs me home sooner than I thought.”

Delphine nods.  “That’s okay.  I have to leave, actually.   I have a paper to start,” she says abruptly.  She stands and pushes in her chair, kisses Jacque on both cheeks, throws me a look, and leaves.  Jacque and I shoot a glance at each other.

“What was that about?” Jacque asks me, obviously confused by Delphine’s hot-and-cold attitude.

“Honestly?  I think she’s jealous of us.  She thinks I like you.”

Jacque looks at me, surprised.  “Do you?”

I take his hand.  “Not that way.  I…” I pause.  I realize that Jacque might think that I do like him.  The truth is, I have been told before that I am overtly flirtatious with people.  I can’t help it! I’m just nice!  But even so, now I know that I like girls.  I know that I’m a lesbian.  And I realize that I have never said it out loud.

I squeeze Jacque’s hand.  “Can I tell you something?”

Jacque nods.

“I…uh…” I take a deep breath.  “I’m gay.  And trust me, I’d like you if I were straight.  You’re amazing and charming and very handsome… but I like girls.  And you’re the first person I’ve ever told,” I stutter.  Jacque smiles, and starts to laugh.

“Hey, what’s so funny?!” I exclaim, trying to reclaim my coming out moment.

“I’m gay too.  And you’re the first person I have told as well.”

I look at him, now sheepishly looking back at me.  Suddenly, I burst into laughter.  Jacque now follows, and we laugh for a moment, disrupting the once quiet coffeehouse with a moment of unexpected joy.

“Hey, Cosima?”

“Yeah Jacque?”

“I was actually planning to tell my mom soon.  And I just don’t want it getting out before then…so could you keep this to yourself for now?” he asks.

“Yeah, of course.” I assure him.

 

* * *

 

 

Walking home through the crisp October air in Paris is like walking through a dream.  The restaurants on the way home from the coffee shop are playing soft, silky jazz, and Miles Davis’ “Birth of the Cool” tickles my ears and gets me humming the whole way home.  I am still reeling from the conversation with Jacque.  Never in my life did I think my first coming out moment would elicit the same response from my confidant.  But it did, and I break into tiny fits of laughter the whole way home just thinking about the situation.

When I get back to the Cormier residence, Marie and Thomas are having coffee at the island.  They both greet me and invite me to join them, but I politely decline their offer.  I need to talk to Delphine.  I need to get this sorted out.

I ascend the stairs to Delphine’s room and knock on the door.  

“Oui?”

“Hey, Delphine, it’s me. Can I come in?”

“It’s your room too, you know.”

“Fair point,” I respond, pushing in the door.

I enter the room, and Delphine is sitting on her bed, laptop open, music softly playing from its speakers.  I guess she did have a paper to work on.  Either way, I’m still worried about her.

“Can I sit next to you?”

“Cosima, why are you asking all of these questions?” she scoffs in response.

“Because you’re obviously upset, and I just want to make sure you’re okay!”  
  
“I’m fine!” she retorts.  “Totally fucking fine.  Don’t worry about me!”

I plop down next to her.  “Okay, we definitely need to talk.”

“About what?!” she retorts.  “I’m fine! Everything’s fine!”

“Delphine, I don’t like Jacque!” I exclaim. “Please, you don’t have to be jealous, he isn’t going to take away our time together! I know I’m only here for a while.  If you want me to spend more time with you, just say the word and I will!"

“What do you mean you don’t like Jacque? It’s so obvious! You’re always spending time together.  You laugh at all of his jokes, you blush when he makes fun of you…”

I sigh.  “Delphine, that’s just, like, friend stuff.”

“Does he like you?”

_Fuck._  I can’t out him.  I can’t tell Delphine yet, he needs time to tell his mom.  So what do I do?  Deny that he likes me, and get an angry response? Or…

“Delphine, I need to tell you something.”

“What could possibly be so important--”

“I’m gay.”

Silence.

“What?”

“Yeah. I’m...I’m gay.”

The words are still fresh on my tongue.  I have only said them out loud a handful of times, and I am still getting used to the feeling, the texture, the emotional baggage that comes with a confession like that.

“How do you know that?” Delphine snaps.

“I just… I just do.  It just makes sense.” I say sheepishly.

“I thought you never liked anyone before? That you thought that you were asexual? That--”

“Don’t you think it’s time we admit what this is really about?” I blurt out.

I look at Delphine, her eyes wide, half aware but unsure of what is coming next.

And then I kiss her.

We linger together for a moment.  I can feel her kissing back, but it wasn’t confident or sure like the one kiss I had before. It was unsure, meek.  She pulls away quickly.

“I know because I like you, Delphine.”

“I…” Delphine stutters.  “I knew I was bisexual years ago.”

“Oh?”  I retort.

“That girl, Danielle?  I had more than just a fondness for her.  I really liked her.  But my father saw it in my eyes when I talked about her, and he told me what the consequences would be.  My dad can handle me drinking. My dad can handle me smoking. He may not have known, but he could have handled the fact that I have dated a much older man. But liking girls? Girls are a different story. It's not that he is religious or anything like that. It's just the way my grandparents raised him. It was during a time when this kind of thing was unacceptable and wrong. It was a time when being gay was like being cursed. And my dad… my dad has never been a person to evolve.  He is old in his ways."

"But everything you do is rebellious. Everything you touch is something they would say no to. Why this?" I murmur.

Delphine takes a moment to think.  "Because I would lose my family. I don't have much, but I have them. And losing them would be too much for me."

"What about you? Your happiness?  Your love is valid no matter what your dad says!” I exclaim.

“Validity isn’t what I’m concerned with, Cosima,” Delphine responds. “Reality is what I’m concerned with.  And the reality of the situation is that I would lose the few things in life I have if I expressed my sexuality.”

I look down.  “Why did you bring this up?”

She puts her hand under my chin, and brings my face up to look at hers.

“Because I like you too, Cosima.”

A single tear rolls down her face.

“But this can’t ever happen again.”

  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Night Terrors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always to my lovely beta! I hope y'all enjoy :)

We don’t speak for days.

Just looking at Delphine is painful.  Just knowing that being with her is something that would cause so much pain and so many problems… it hurts.  I keep having the sexy dreams though.  I can’t turn them off, especially now that I know that Delphine likes me.  I have woken up crying a few times.  But mostly, I just have been sleeping less.  I can’t even escape to my dreams, because they make reality more painful.

The day-to-day has become awkward too.  Passing her in the hallways at school gives me incredible anxiety, and even sitting next to her in class makes me sweat. 

Six days after our kiss, I lay awake in bed, listening to Delphine breathing in the bed next to me.  She is dreaming again.  It’s early in the morning, maybe 01:00 or so, and I can’t sleep.  I am so worked up.  I’m mad because I fucked things up with Delphine, and my body is continuing its punishment of little sleep.  Streetlamp light filters in through the window adjacent to my bed, and I turn away from it towards Delphine.  I start to close my eyes again, but I am met with a noise I haven’t heard from her before, a whimper of some kind.  I open my eyes, and Delphine begins to toss and turn in her bed, pulling the blanket off of her, visibly sweating. 

“Delphine?” I blurt out into the dimly lit room.

She tosses again.  Soon, she begins to breathe heavily, eventually turning into a pant.  She flips away from me, and I see her hand grab her jaw, rooting around along her cheek. 

_ She’s having a night terror. _

Slowly, I peel back my blanket, and roll out of bed.  I sit on the side of Delphine’s bed, resting a hand on her shoulder.

“Delphine?” I say again.

The light from the streetlamp shines on half of Delphine’s face, and I can see tears rolling down her cheek and towards her pillow.  As she raises her arm again and begins to claw rapidly at her jaw, I shake her.

“Delphine! Wake up! You’re having a bad dream!”

She starts sobbing, still asleep.  I shake her again, forcefully this time, and I see her eyes flutter and her movements slow. 

“You’re okay, Delphine. You’re okay.”

She looks back at me, rolling over to the side of the bed I am sitting on.  She draws her hand back to her face, and runs it over three raised marks on her cheek, wet with tears.

“ _ Je… je pleurais _ ?” she sniffles.

“What--oh, crying?  Yeah, dude.  You were having a bad dream.”

“It was the same as before…”

“The same what?”

“The maggots.  The worms.  They were burrowing into my face, prying their way into my jaw, controlling my body from the inside…” Delphine murmurs, a single tear rolling from her left eye as she sits up to meet me.

“It’s just a dream, Delphine.  You’re okay.  I promise.  I’m right here.”

“You’re right here,” she repeats back to me, reaching out to touch my face.  She seems to still be somewhere between asleep and awake, and I allow her to touch me despite the recent awkwardness between us in order to ground herself.

Delphine’s eyes open further, looking around the room.  She pulls the ribbon on her lamp in order to turn on the small light, and when it clicks and lights she squints in response. 

“You’re right here…”

“Yes, Delphine, right here.  Do you need anything?”

“I mean… I’m sorry, I don’t want to make things awkward I just…” She pauses, obviously thinking before she asks her question.  “Would you hold me?”

“Oh… yeah, for sure.  Obvs.” 

Delphine sits square on the bed and I sit behind her, legs splayed around her. She lays herself back on my chest, and I put my arms around her, careful not to touch her breasts.  She lays her head back into my neck, and I can see the claw marks on her left cheek glisten against the lamps light.

A few minutes pass like this.  She begins to breathe more regularly, and the tears become fewer and infrequent. 

“Cosima?”

“I’m here.”

“Tell me about your first kiss.”

I pause. “I told you, it’s completely embarrassing and 100% doesn’t count.”

“Tell me anyway,” she responds quietly.

I husk to myself, then continue. 

“It was 7th grade.  I was at a sleepover with my friends at the time, and they snuck in a few male friends to the basement.”

“Mmm.  Go on.”  Delphine giggles.

“We were playing Truth or Dare,” I continue.  “There’s this kid… his name was Greg, I think.  But he was tall for our age, and handsome, I suppose. But someone dared me to kiss him.  And I did.”

“What was it like?”

“...rough?  Open mouthed nonsense?  Honestly, I hated it.  And it was in front of all of these 7th grade girls, which made it worse.  They were giggling and pointing and I pushed him away before too much could happen.”

“Was that when you realized?” Delphine questions.

“Realized…”

“That you like girls?”

Silence.  The lamp’s light speaks loud against my face, contorting into a shape I can’t describe, trying to find the words.

“No.”

“When did you realize?”

“The day I met you.”  I blurt out before I could assess the damage the phrase might do.

Silence again.  I can see the dust floating out around the light bulb.  It dances close to me, disappearing on my skin.

“Really?” Delphine asks into the quiet of the night.

“Yeah.”

“...Cosima?”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t stop thinking about that kiss…  From the other night...”

_ Thuh-thunk. Thuh-thunk. Thuh-thunk. _

“Like in a… not bad way?”

_ Thuh-thunk. Thuh-thunk. Thuh-thunk. _

“Oui. In a good way.  In a way… Cosima, I have never felt like that before you kissed me.”

_ Thuh-thunk. Thuh-thunk. Thuh-thunk. _

“I know that there is a risk with you, that something could happen between me and my father because of how I feel, but I just loved the way I felt when you kissed me…” Delphine continues.

“Do...do you want to feel that way again?” I stutter.

Delphine lifts her head off of my chest.  Slowly, she sits up, finding her bearings in her bed, and turns around to face me.

“I do.”

She raises her right hand to my face, the same hand that just a few minutes ago was causing such harm to her own cheek, and runs it down the side of my face, placing her thumb over my lip and pulling down slightly. A small, uncontrolled whimper comes out of my mouth.

_ Thuh-thunk. Thuh-thunk. Thuh-thunk. _

Her face inches closer to mine.

_ Thuh-thunk. Thuh-thunk. Thuh-thunk. _

And then she kisses me.  Lightly, intentionally, slowly, she kisses me.  I kiss her back, afraid to make a wrong move or think a wrong thought.  I don’t want her to stop kissing me.  Not now, not ever.  And the last time this happened, she pulled away so quickly.  I can’t let it happen again.

Delphine wraps her arms around my sides, and slides her hands onto my back, kissing me still.  I feel her tongue run across my lips, and instinctively I part them, eager to let her in, eager to taste her, to feel her on my tongue, to exist in the same space as her.  Slowly, I wrap my arms around her in the same fashion she is holding me, running my finger gently along her spine through the fabric of her tank top.  I feel her whimper into my mouth, and I groan.  Delphine brings her hands low to my hips, toying with the night shirt I have on, sliding her hands up under the fabric and onto my bare back.  Her fingertips mimic mine, tracing my spine with her finger, however this time in contact with bare skin.  Our lips pressed together, we are holding each other.  It doesn’t feel like I can get much closer to Delphine.  Truly, this is the definition of bliss.

Well, I thought it was, until she pulls away from the kiss, grabs the hem of her shirt, and pulls it off swiftly.  Her small, perky, jewelry laden breasts bared in the dim light of the lamp to me, milky white skin so eager in front of me… this. This is bliss.

“Can… Can I touch them?” 

I’m staring at this point, eyes glued to the shiny metal balls that make me want to suck and nip at her breasts.   Delphine responds by pulling my hand up to her left breast. I squeeze it, unsure of what, exactly, to do.  Delphine rolls her head back, and moans a small moan.  I pull my left hand to her right breast, and squeeze it in tandem with the other hand.  Eventually, curiosity brings me to her pierced nipples, and I play with the bar just a little bit.  She inhales sharply, and I understand perfectly her message.  I kiss her scratched cheek, down to her neck, and on to the mound of her breast, eyes connecting with hers for approval, which she gives.  Gently, I lap her nipple with my tongue, and she moans again.  I flick my tongue gently on the nub, then take it into my mouth and suck, and she moans louder. 

_ Oh. _

“Is this good?” I ask.  “I’ve, uh, never done this before…”

Delphine brings me up to a searing kiss. 

“Yes. Good. But you are wearing too much.” 

She dips her hand to the hem of my shirt, and I raise my arms above me so she can lift it off of me.  She discards it to the floor, and runs a finger across my left nipple.   I breathe in sharply, letting out a moan as the breath leaves me.  My nipple hardens beneath her fingers, and she rolls it between her fingertips.

“Oh… Jesus, Delphine, that feels amazing…”

She smiles.

“ _ Oui? _ ”

“Yes, yes...oh my god...”

Her smile widens.

“Good… good… I have never done this, either, you know.”

I roll my head forward again, and look down.

“What about Danielle?”

“Danielle… She was a fantasy.  An almost.  But you…” She palms my breast, pinching my nipple, and I gasp.

“...you are real.  You are right here.  And I think you are worth the risk.”

I giggle. 

“You’re damn right.”

We kiss for a while, hands tracing the silhouette of the other in the pale light of street lamps and the lamp from Delphine’s night stand.  Occasionally, Delphine runs her hand over a part of my back or arm that I didn’t realize was so sensitive, and I moan slightly into her mouth.  I mimic, following her lead (though neither of us know for sure what we are doing), eliciting similar gasps and moans from her lips.

Eventually, she pushes her hands down the back of my sweatpants and onto my bare ass, grabbing tightly, short fingernails digging into skin.  I grind down and forward onto the bed, moaning, gasping, amazed at how good this feels.  I start to feel that I am aching, and the more Delphine touches me, I realize that I am throbbing in my sweats.

“Delphine…” I whisper.

“Mmm?”  Delphine responds.

“Please…please touch me…”

Deer in headlights.  She stares me down, obviously excited by this notion, but also visibly frightened, as if this was the line, this is where she cannot go and be in good standing with her father, this is what will damn her from her family. 

“I want to… I want to…”

I sit up, and climb my way onto her lap, straddling her, pressing the heat of my pussy into her leg, kissing her again.  She moans on contact, and grabs my ass, kissing me deeper, harder.  Soon, I’m grinding down into her leg, desperate for contact, desperate for anything to touch my swollen clit.   Delphine breaks the kiss, and pushes me off of her.

“Lay down,” she says.  “But you have to promise that you’ll be quiet.”  

I nod readily, flipping myself on my back.  Delphine hooks her thumbs into my sweats and pulls them less-than-gracefully down to my ankles, and I kick them off.  She runs her hands down my pelvis, then switches over to my right thigh, grazing it with the back of her hand. 

Every nerve in my body is firing.  I can feel her in a way I didn’t know possible.  I can feel the electricity that courses through her, giving me tiny shocks in every place that she touches me.

Eventually, she runs her hand up to my pussy, swiping a finger through the folds.  I bite back a moan, remembering that she had asked me to be quiet, and realizing that I would probably need a pillow to absorb sounds if I was already having trouble.  I grab one and put it over my face.

Delphine truly doesn’t know what she is doing.  She is touching every part of me, curious, exploring, but far from getting me off.  Eventually I become frustrated, and reach a hand down between my legs and start rubbing my clit, moaning into the pillow.  Delphine seems to get it, pushing my hand away to replace it with her own, using two fingers to circle my clit, though avoiding too much direct stimulation.  Eventually she presses against it, and my eyes roll back into my head.  She continues to press and rub, watching my back arch and my legs shake around her. 

This continues for a few minutes.  I feel myself getting worked up, and I feel myself begin to ache to be filled.  I remove the pillow from my face, and look at Delphine, trying to whisper to her as she rubs my clit.

“Delphine… can you go inside of me?  Please? But like… don’t stop what you’re doiiiii-OH, fuck, please don’t stop that!” I say slightly too loud, and Delphine shushes me, while moving her other hand to dip a single finger into my entrance.  I sit up suddenly, gasping, unaware of what it felt like to be filled by someone else, nearly overwhelmed at the new sensation.  She pushes and pulls, curling her finger against my g-spot, and I pull the pillow back over my face, lay back down, and moan.

A slew of curse words fall from my lips as Delphine thrusts into me and rubs against me.  Eventually, she begins to find a rhythm, which I then match with my own hips, bringing me closer to the edge, putting me on the cusp of orgasm.

“Delphine… Delphine, fuck, I think I’m gonna come…”

Delphine continues, slightly faster and deeper, trying to coax an orgasm out of me with no prior experience.  And coax she does. It starts at the bottom: the tingles begin in my toes and wash up my legs, my spine, and down to my arms and the tips of my fingers.  I hold the pillow to my face for dear life, hips bucking, back arching, screaming as softly as one can possibly do at a time like this.  It washes over me in its entirety until it leaves me spent.  I pull the pillow off of my face, now gasping for air, and I watch Delphine pull her finger out from inside of me and put it into her mouth, sucking it dry. 

I am exhausted.  It’s 02:30 in the morning, we’ve been fooling around for an hour and a half or so.  But I can see Delphine is flush in the dim light and I realize that she needs attention as well, and I want more than anything to make her come for me.  So I kiss her, holding the small of her back with both of my hands, eventually bringing her down onto the bed.  I climb on top of her.

“Delphine?”

“Yes?”

“What do you need?”

She stops, obviously puzzled.  I find out after this encounter that Delphine had never been asked a question like this in bed, not even with Aldous.  And she does not know how to respond.  So she doesn’t, lips sealed, eyes turned away, unaware of how to ask to be pleased.

“Delphine?”

“I… I want to be…” she starts.  “I want you to touch me…”

I nod.  “Okay, I can do that.  Just tell me what you want as we go, okay?”  Delphine swallows hard and nods in response. 

I reach down to the hem of Delphine’s shorts, and start to tease at the top of it.  Delphine gasps and I dip my fingers beneath the top, finding a trimmed patch of hair there.  Slowly, I push my hand down farther until I am cupping her sex with my hand.  She is soaking, throbbing, hot. 

“Jesus, Delphine,” I moan.

I take my hand out from her pants and she sighs in discontent, but soon I am pushing them off of her and into the pile at the foot of the bed.  Delphine now lays fully naked in front of me, and I take a moment to memorize what this looks and feels like.  Her blonde curls surround her like an aura; her face is glistening with sweat.  Her breasts have fallen to the side, her piercings pointing in opposite directions.  Even in the dim light, I can still see faint lines where her bikini once was in the summer.  I place my hands on her knees, and spread them apart.  Slowly, I run my middle finger through her folds, and I hear Delphine gasp as it inches closer to her clit, and eventually she moans as I touch it.  It is swollen and throbbing beneath me, and I trace a circle around it, trying to avoid direct contact in this moment. 

I do this for a few minutes, circling around her clit slowly, carefully, unsure of what exactly she needs.  But soon I hear her breathing increase, and she moves my hand into direct contact with her clit.

“Delphine, you can tell me what you want.  What do you want? It’s okay…”

Delphine is breathing hard. “Cosima… Can… Can you use your mouth? Please?”

_ Sweet Jesus. _

“Yeah, yeah sure okay!” I respond. 

I lower my head to her center and kiss the folds.  Delphine groans.  I stick out my tongue and taste her for the first time.  She’s sweet, musky, and tangy.  I trace my tongue up through the folds of her sex, kiss her clit upon reaching it, and Delphine arches her back in response.  Soon I am licking it with a flat tongue, stroking her, occasionally stopping to suck on it.  Delphine’s moans get louder but are soon muffled with her pillow. 

This goes on for a while, speed slowly increasing, her clit throbbing in my mouth.  Suddenly, Delphine sits up, moaning, panting.

“Can you please fuck me… I need you inside of me... oooOHHHHh Jesus...  _ merde _ that feels amazing…”

I groan in response, dipping two fingers inside of her while still sucking on her clit, stroking her g-spot in tandem.  She pants, curses, says things in French I can’t translate.

“Cosima! Cosima, I’m gonna come…”

I feel her body tense.  She clamps her thighs together, trapping me in the process, back arching and body trembling.  She moans, grabbing her pillow to trap them, and then goes silent.  I feel a rush of liquid come out onto my face and fingers, and I smirk, covered in her come.  I pump her until she is finished, until every last aftershock is over, then pull out of her slowly, climbing on top of her, licking the come off of my fingers. Soon we are kissing, slowly, increasingly sleepily, until Delphine starts to yawn into me.  Only then do I roll off of her.  She grabs my waist, and pulls me in big spoon style. 

“Delphine?” I ask into the night.

“Oui?”

“What does this mean?”

Silence from Delphine.  The clock is flashing 03:21.  A motorcycle goes by.  The night is alive in the absence of Delphine’s voice.

“I don’t know.”


	6. Around You

When I wake with Delphine spooning me, breasts flush to my back, a long arm draped across my chest, I assume that I am still dreaming.  Then I feel her stir behind me, the arm draping me finding a grip and pulling me closer to her.  I feel the heat of her body radiating onto mine and I decide that no, this is not a dream.  

Everything about the previous night comes rushing back at this realization.  The night terrors that Delphine had, the late night confession, the, uh, other stuff.  It all comes back.  Was  _ that _ a dream?

I feel a kiss on my bare shoulder followed by hot breath in my ear. 

“Hey,” Delphine half-whispers.

“Mmm..hey,” I mumble back.

_ Definitely not a dream _ . 

“How did you sleep?” Delphine asks.

“I slept well, the best in a while, actually.”  

It’s true.  I finally was able to sleep properly for the first time in almost a week with Delphine surrounding me and with everything out in the open.

“What about you?” I say.  “No more nightmares?”

“No more nightmares, thank God.”

“Do you have any idea why that may be?” I inquire.

“Well…” Delphine starts, “the nightmares stopped a few nights after you came to stay with us.  But when we stopped talking and things got so awkward…they obviously came back.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I guess having you around makes me feel safe, so now that we are on good terms again…” Delphine trails off.

“I helped your night terrors? Really?”

“Mhm.  There’s something about you, Cosima.  You make life a little less scary.”

I snort. “I don’t think that’s true at all.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You’re terrified of what your father will think of us.”

Silence.  

“I mean, yes.  But I told you last night, I don’t know what that meant.  I just know that I felt compelled to do it.”

“It means that you like me, Delphine. You said it yourself.”  I retort. “Do you mean to tell me there is no ‘us’?”

Delphine sits up and averts her gaze from me.  “I mean… I don’t know.”

“Do you know how much last night meant to me, Delphine?”

Delphine lays back down and kisses my bare shoulder blade, and I inhale sharply.

“Yes, I know what it meant.  But for now… can we not put a label on this? Is that okay? I’m just not ready.”

I sigh and flip to face her.  “Yeah, as long as it’s not something that lasts forever.”  I pause.  “How about this: let me know how you feel by New Year’s Eve.  That gives you about two months to decide.  But until then, let’s, like, really get to know each other.”

“How do you suppose we do that?”

I think on it.  “Why don’t we share things about ourselves that would surprise each other?”

Delphine hums.  “Okay.  You first.”

“Okay.  Hmm.  My favorite animal is the goat.  I frickin’ love goats, man.  They’re so cute.”

Delphine laughs.  “Okay, I definitely wouldn’t have guessed that.”

I snicker.  “Your turn.”

Delphine hums again.  “Okay.  I drink wine, but I much prefer whisky.  Always been a whisky girl.  I love the spice, I guess.  The kick.”

I giggle.  “Okay, definitely didn’t see that one coming, French girl.”

Delphine smiles.  “Tell me another.”

I pause.  “Well… I’m really into EDM music and all that, but I have a giant soft spot for Ingrid Michaelson.”

“Who is that?”   
  


“She’s like, this indie artist.  She did the song for a commercial for Old Navy a few years ago.  But like… she has this one album.  It’s called ‘Slow the Rain’ and she fucking  _ hates _ it.  She just recently took it off of iTunes because she hates it so much.”

Delphine clicks her tongue.  “Ah, I see.”

“Of course, for whatever reason, ‘Slow the Rain’ is my favorite album of hers.”

“Never one for the mainstream, are you?” Delphine teases. 

“I suppose not,” I giggle. “But… there’s this one song off of the album.  And it’s so amazing.  Can I play it for you?”

Delphine nods, and I get out of bed (realizing that I am still fully naked about 3 steps into my walk across the room) and put my phone into Delphine’s speaker dock on the opposite side of the room.  I pick the track, and the soft piano opening of  _ Around You _ comes on in a quiet symphony, filling the room.

_ “I call you my friend…" _

“Care to dance?” I ask.

_ “And that’s all that I do…” _

Delphine sits up.  “Yeah, okay.”

_ “Why do I have to pretend… To find ways… To be around you…” _

Delphine, still naked from the night before, rises from the bed and walks towards me.  

_ “You’ve been there all along… holding my hand like you do…” _

She puts her arms over my shoulders, and I wrap my hands around her small bare waist.

_ “Why do I feel that it’s wrong… to love to… be around you…” _

We sway slowly to the rhythm, and I lay my head on her chest.

_ “And I think I’m losing my mind… maybe I have been hopelessly blind to your beauty” _

“Cosima?” she says softly.

“Yeah?” I respond.

_ “And you have a sweet sinful smile, I’m in trouble…” _

And then she kisses me, moving her arms from my shoulders to the small of my back, pulling me in tight.

_ “Cuz you turn me upside down… and around… and around…” _

I pull away from the kiss smiling.  “In a perfect world, where your dad was accepting and we could get married in France or in the US, what would our lives be like together?"

Delphine laughs.  “Are you sure you’re just now figuring out that you’re a lesbian? Because that sounded like a classic u-haul move.  That’s seasoned of you.”

I roll my eyes.  “Just… tell me.”

_ “Do you feel what I feel?  Well… do you feel this way too?” _

“Well,” Delphine responds, “we would live in the US.  In a house that’s just big enough for the two of us and two dogs.  And maybe a goat.”  

I giggle.

_ “That every wound seems to heal… when I am around you…” _

“I really want to be a scientist, man.” I confide in her.  “So badly.  I just… love it so much.  Can I be a scientist in this fantasy?”

Delphine nods.

_ “And I must be losing my mind maybe… I have been hopelessly blind to your beauty… And you have a sweet sinful smile, I’m in trouble…” _

“I want to be a scientist, too.”

_ “Cuz you turn me upside down… and around… and around…” _

“Delphine?”

“Yeah?”   


“Is it weird that I feel like I’m floating?”   
  
_ “My feet don’t touch the ground when I’m around you.” _

 

\---

 

After that night, Delphine quickly becomes part of Jacque and my afternoon hang sessions, making our duo a trio.  Delphine confides in me that her friends are “too snooty” for her these days.  I don’t blame her.  All of them are the kind of beautiful girls that are close to terrifying in high school.  Jacque and I are fairly unintimidating.  However, somewhere inside of me I wonder if she just wants to be spending more time with me.  I know I want to be spending more time with her. 

The three of us sit on the porch where Delphine and I got high that first night at Jacque’s house.  Jacque is on his laptop, typing furiously away at a lab report, and Delphine and I are running flashcards opposite him.  

“What’s this one?”  Delphine says, holding up a card for me to see.

“What, Helicase?  That’s easy!” I snort.  “It’s an enzyme that helps in DNA replication by taking apart the strands.”

“Very good!” Delphine responds.

“...Wanna know how I remember that one?” I say to Delphine.

“Sure, hit me.”

“It’s a pick up line, actually.”

Delphine rolls her eyes.  “Okay, go ahead.”

I giggle. “Are you a DNA strand? Because I’m Helicase and I want to unzip your genes!” I bust out laughing.

Delphine snickers. “Oh my god, I would have never thought of that.  I don’t think I’m at the level of English where I can be making science related homophone jokes.”  Delphine leans in closer to me.  “You can unzip my jeans anytime,  _ ma cherie _ .”

I hum.  “Mmm… Okay.  Maybe not while Jacque is around.”

Jacque snaps his head up from the laptop.  “What?”

I giggle.  “Nothing, nothing.”

Jacque closes the laptop with a smile.  “I’m glad we hang out, you know.  And it’s nice having you around too, Delphine.  It’s nice having friends.”   


Delphine laughs. “You have lots of friends, Jacque.”

“I know, I know, but friends like you are hard to come by.”

“What do you mean?”  I ask.

“I just… I don’t know, I feel like I can confide in you guys.”

“In what way?”  Delphine asks.

Jacque takes a deep breath. “Delphine, I actually wanted to tell you something, if that’s okay.”

Delphine widens her eyes. “Like what?  Are you okay?”

Jacque smiles.  “Actually I am, yeah.  But, uh, I’m gay, actually.”

Delphine smiles wide.  “Oh?”

Jacque continues.  “And I just came out to my mom and it went really well so I’m just… I’m out, now, I guess. Yeah.” Jacque shuffles his feet.

“Hey man, that’s amazing!  I’m so proud of you, I was so nervous for you!” I exclaim.   


Delphine turns to me.  “Wait, you knew?”

I blush.  “Um, yeah, kind of.  Do you remember that day a few weeks ago when you got mad at me and left the coffee shop?  He told me then.  And, uh, he’s kind of the reason I kissed you.”

“What?!” Jacque and Delphine say in unison.

“You kissed her?” Jacque prods.

“In what way?”  Delphine inquires.

I turn to Jacque. “Yeah, I kissed her. It’s been a weird few weeks.”  

I turn to Delphine.  “And Delphine, I told you I was gay to protect Jacque.  You wouldn’t believe me if I just said he didn’t like me and didn’t give a reason.  You were already so angry at me.  I wanted to protect his privacy and the only way to do it was to throw myself under the bus.  So I did.  And then I kissed you.”

Delphine starts to laugh.  Jacque turns to me. “So are you guys, like, together now?”   


I contort my face.  “Uh… no?  Not officially-”

“It’s complicated,” Delphine interjects.

Jacque’s face falls.  “Family stuff?”

Delphine wrings her hands.  “Yeah, actually.”

“Are you happy?”

Delphine is taken aback by this comment.  “What?”

“Are you happy? Like, with Cosima?”

Delphine turns to me and looks at me in the eyes.  

“Yeah.  Yeah, I am.”

Jacque smiles. “Then you’ll figure it out.  I have faith.”   


I turn from them for just a moment and look out onto Paris.  The sun is setting against the skyline, and the sky is golden and purple.  I listen to Delphine and Jacque continue to talk in the background as my own mind starts to wander.  Nothing is perfect in this situation.  But I am happy, too.  And I am going to hold on to that happiness for as long as I can.

 


	7. Incentive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit, it's been a long time.
> 
> I am so sorry it's been so long since I updated this fic! I promise you, I have wanted to, but school and work and life have gotten in the way. I am on break now, so I plan to write as many chapters as possible so I can release work throughout next semester. Anyway... enjoy the chapter! It's short, but it's a fun one ;)

The happiness of the first few days lingers into weeks.  Though Delphine has no intent of telling her family (or anyone else, for that matter) any time soon, she seems to be enjoying her time with me.  We spend every spare moment together: after school, between classes, weekends.  She takes me to her favorite brunching spots on Sundays, and I cart her to tourist attractions after.

“Hey, indulge me, I’m not from here!” I tell her.

She playfully rolls her eyes each time, and follows me wherever I take her.

School has become...well...more interesting.  The classes are getting harder as the semester goes on, and the fact that I can’t keep my mind off of Delphine isn’t helping my grades.  Finals are in about a month, and though I’m not failing my classes, I certainly don’t have the grades I want.

Delphine sits next to me, running her fingers up my arm.  Nobody is here.  It’s study hall, which we only have once a week, and Delphine and I have found ourselves a secluded study room.  I am pouring over cell mutation homework, and Delphine is trying to distract me.

“All you do is study,” Delphine groans.

“Excuse me? I have spent  _ so _ much time with you this week. I really need to know this stuff, this is the bulk of the exam.  It’s next Tuesday, you know. Let me study.”

Delphine leans over to whisper in my ear.

“Do you need any...incentive?”

I roll my eyes, half annoyed but half intrigued.

“I doubt your incentive is school appropriate, but go on.”

She pulls away.  

“How about if you get your flashcards right, we go home and take a bath…”

I snicker.  “It’s the middle of the day, dumbass.  I have a million things to do.  I can’t skip class!”

She leans in once again and kisses my neck. 

“You… need to de-stress… ma cherie…” she whispers between kisses.

We’ve been doing a lot of this, too. It’s honestly difficult to keep your hands off of your person when they live 6 feet away from you.  

I groan in defeat.

“Okay, run them.”

Delphine grabs my flashcards out of my knapsack and runs them with me.  I know this stuff, I spend so much time trying to memorize these words in French that it is becoming second nature.  We go through each of the fifty cards and I get all of them right in English.  We go through once again and I run them in French.  Less some garbled pronunciation, I get them right, too.

Delphine smirks.  

“I knew you knew them.  Now come on” she says, packing the flashcards away.

I scoff.

“Ah, so you knew, eh?  Is that why you offered your ‘incentive’, because you knew you would get it?”

She giggles.

“I am top in my class.  I’m not an idiot.”

I roll my eyes, now.  

“Okay.”

I pack my computer and all my stray papers, and Delphine and I make our escape from the Academy.  We manage to slip out a side door when nobody was watching, and we hail a cab to the Cormier residence.  When we arrive, Delphine unlocks the door.  Nobody’s home.  Delphine smiles, and scampers upstairs to run a bath.  I follow suit, putting my knapsack in the corner by my bed, and quickly undressing and grabbing my towel from the vanity chair.  I put it on and walk to the bathroom.  Delphine is standing topless, bent at the waist, pouring bath salts into the running water.  The room smells like lavender, and the air is already thick and humid from the bath.

I close the door, and Delphine turns around.  

“Hey,” she smirks.

“Hey,” I say sheepishly.

She walks to me slowly, and grabs the towel neatly tucked at my chest and pulls it away.  She walks me up against the door until my body is pressed against it, and kisses me.  She runs her hands up my waist, and I feel each touch in the electricity that passes through my body.  I break the kiss, grabbing her by the hand, leading her to the tub.  I get in first, and I watch as she strips down to nothing, her thin pale form illumined by the high noon sunlight.  She steps into the tub, and I pull forward so she can straddle me from behind.

The water is so soothing, and the warmth of Delphine behind me feels so calming.  Delphine wraps her arms around me, grabbing my breasts, kissing my neck.

“You need to destress, ma cherie” she half moans, releasing her hands from my breasts so they can travel to my legs.  She runs her hands up my outer thighs, then to the inside.  I lean my head back and groan.  How she turns me on so quickly, I’ll never understand.

“Touch me,” I whisper.

Delphine teases my midriff with her fingers, eventually traveling to my clit, circling slowly with one finger, kissing my neck from behind as she does it.  I can feel the stress of the Academy slowly melt away as shocks of pleasure come through every inch of my body.

“God, yes, Delphine…” I whisper, her fingers working a bit faster now, her left hand tweaking my nipple.

Our sex used to feel so desperate and fast, but as we have gotten to know each other this way, it has become slower and more delicate, relishing in each other’s bodies and the sensations they produce.  I can feel an orgasm building, and I roll my head back into the space between Delphine’s neck and left shoulder.

“Come for me… Come for me…” Delphine pleads, so obviously enjoying this show.

And I do.  I moan and shake, and I feel her fingers pull away from my pussy.  I shrink forward, laying against Delphine’s breast, breathing heavily.

“Good lord, I never get tired of that,” I half-giggle.

“A good de-stressor, Cosima?” Delphine says in a low voice.

“Yes.  Absolutely.”

We lay in the bath together for a half hour more.  Delphine gets out first as the water begins to cool, and dries herself off with a towel.  I watch her do this from the bath, taking in her beauty from this angle.  I follow suit and dry off with my own towel, eventually wrapping my dreads with it.

I yawn, as the warm bath has made me sleepy, and Delphine catches it and yawns too.  I look at her and smirk.

“Wanna…nap?”

She gasps.

“You just said the magic words.”

We go to our room and close the door.  Delphine and I climb into my bed, and she snuggles up behind me, wrapping her legs around mine, holding me tightly with a slightly-wet arm.  We fall asleep.


End file.
